Senators-Panthers Preview

Associated Press

The Ottawa Senators seek their season-high fourth straight win and a .500 record Friday when they continue their four-game road swing against former Ottawa coach Jacques Martin and the Florida Panthers.

The Senators (10-11-1) began the road trip with a 3-2 overtime victory Wednesday over the Philadelphia Flyers. Defenseman Wade Redden scored the winning goal with 20.6 seconds to play, helping Ottawa complete a rally from a two-goal deficit and win for the fourth time in five games.

"It felt great, especially to battle back from two," said Redden, who has just four points in 14 games after scoring a career-high 50 last season. "Once we got down two, I thought we really turned it on and started playing better."

Ottawa has not been .500 since a 2-1 loss Oct. 28 at Boston dropped the Senators to 5-5-0. Ray Emery, who appears to have supplanted Martin Gerber as the Senators' No. 1 goaltender, has allowed just six goals on 90 shots while starting all three games of the winning streak.

"Five hundred, for sure if we get to that point and start from scratch and get going again we can feel pretty good about that," Redden told the team's Web site after an optional skate Thursday. "We've had an up-and-down season thus far, and tomorrow is a big game to get to that level. Then we can start over from there."

Daniel Alfredsson, who scored the game-tying goal in the final minute of the second period, has three goals and four assists in a six-game points streak.

The Panthers (8-11-4) have alternated wins and losses their last four games but are only 1-3-1 in their last five home games. After scoring three second-period goals to erase a 2-0 deficit, Florida yielded four goals in the final period Wednesday in a 6-4 loss to Tampa Bay.

"We let them off the hook," Florida defenseman Mike Van Ryn said. "It's a tough loss because we had them."

Defense has been a season-long problem for the Panthers, whose 79 goals allowed are tied for second-most in the Eastern Conference and third-most in the NHL. They have yielded 29 goals in the last eight games, going 2-4-2 in that span.

Olli Jokinen, who has team highs of 10 goals and 13 assists, has four goals and three assists in his last four games. The Finnish left wing has scored all 10 of his goals and registered nine of his assists in Florida's 12 home games.

Martin, who compiled a 341-255-96 record in nine seasons as coach of the Senators and is the winningest coach in Ottawa's franchise history, watched his Panthers split four games with his former club last season. Florida won the last two games, outscoring Ottawa 11-6.